College education is a commitment. A young man or woman must commit four years of their life, in which they earn no wage at all, or a pittance from a hospitality or cleaning job on the weekend. It costs their parents’ saving, or a decade of debt. Is the knowledge one learns at college worth this sacrifice, both financial and of ones time?
The most significant cost in college isn’t really the money. It’s the time. In the same amount of time, a young person could complete an apprenticeship or learn a trade, and even go into business themselves. They could start a family, move away, or get a job and begin working up the ranks. The financial cost aside, is the value of college truly worth the years of ones life?
Degrees are becoming less valuable as more people attain them- does not the very flooding of recent graduates in fact render your college years less valuable? The sudden expansion in young adults with a college education has reduced the graduate job market significantly in recent years. This should drive the monetary cost of college down, but instead it gets ever more expensive. Indeed, many recent graduates find that their degree did not equip them with the skills necessary for work, only the knowledge, and employers look for the former not the latter.
What does one gain from college? A series of lectures, papers, and exams, designed to improve and test your knowledge. But a 19 year old student does what any other student would do- they learn what they need to pass, sit the test, and promptly forget. What must be considered is not the material gain, nor the learning of facts. We have Google™ for facts. What one learns at college is not what to think, but how to think. One learns to read critically, to ask questions, and what questions to ask. One learns to form networks with successful people, people who are where one wishes to be in a decade.
After college, one must move on into the workforce. To be employed, one must be able to demonstrate relevant skills, experience, or qualifications. Having been to college, your employer can be sure of certain things. Firstly, that you are able to complete time-sensitive tasks and work to deadlines. Secondly, that you have the strength of character to pass college instead of only participating in the social aspect, and the drive to finish what you begin. Thirdly, that you have the aptitude necessary to complete tasks that may be required of you. Lastly, that you not only have the capacity but the desire to learn, and to better yourself. These are attributes that will play in your favour when you sit to interview for your very first job, before you have the years of experience to back your claims.
In summary of all the points, on balance, a college education is still worth the cost. Learning how to think, to ask questions, and having in writing from a reputable institution that you can stand the test of college still works in your favour as a young adult. In you early years when trying to secure that elusive first step in your career, the young adult with a college education still has the edge in toda’s job market, and indeed, probably always will.